In 2005, Hugo Sarmiento of Los Angeles attended a Garden Grove protest against right-wing activist Jim Gilchrist and his anti-immigrant Minuteman Project, got arrested by cops he claims fabricated charges in hopes of sending him to prison and then landed inside the Orange County Jail, where he says deputies assaulted him.

Prosecutors weren't impressed with the cops' sensational assertions and offered to dismiss the case if Sarmiento accepted a wrist slap for a minor misdemeanor. Though he agreed, he also sued Garden Grove police and sheriff's deputies.

He lost the case, but the Ninth Circuit court of appeals believed the dismissal of Sarmiento's case against the deputies was flawed and ordered a new trial that took place last month.

The alleged particulars are interesting: After spending hours in custody of Garden Grove cops, a completely sober Sarmiento--now a P.h.D student at UCLA--was transferred to the county jail, where he says obnoxious deputies yelled, "This Mexican speaks English," declared him intoxicated, tossed him into the drunk tank, kicked and punched him in the face, and interrogated him about his political beliefs.

Lawyers for the deputies portrayed the claims as ridiculous.

Like they customarily do, an Orange County federal jury didn't see any evidence of deputy wrongdoing either.

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I'm starting to get the feeling that the media is trying to instill fear in us by reporting on incidents where the police brutalize and get away with it. Are there no cases of police brutality that end up in the victims favor? We do need to be aware, but I refuse to fear them.

If the government (any branch including county and cities) doesn't want something publicized it doesn't get publicized. I'm beginning to think that all these horror stories are being overly reported on because the police want more control over the citizens and nothing works better for that than good old fear.

"was transferred to the county jail, where he says obnoxious deputies yelled, "This Mexican speaks English," declared him intoxicated, tossed him into the drunk tank, kicked and punched him in the face, and interrogated him about his political beliefs.

Lawyers for the deputies portrayed the claims as ridiculous.

Like they customarily do, an Orange County federal jury didn't see any evidence of deputy wrongdoing either."

This is why the whole world one day is going to vomit on the Anaheim/Garden Grove entertainment complex rather than visit it. No one is going to want to travel across the world to help fund a bunch of racist sociopaths decimating a minority community for profit.

lol... another beaner with a worthless degree in chicano studies.. the real students laugh at these mentally deficient morons... have a great time at mcdonalds with your ph.d. in chicano studies, loser

Best wishes to Hugo Sarmiento. I think his advanced educational experience as a Ph. D. student at UCLA will help him see that promoting violence, especially in an absurd attempt to suppress someone's free speech, is wrong, unproductive, and can lead to spending a lot of time weaving through the judicial system.

Sarmiento is not the first person I have known to declare himself a victim after getting into a scuffle with cops. Apparently, Sarmiento and his thug buddies didn't think they were doing anything wrong when they pelted cops on horseback and bystanders with cans of frozen sodas and marbles. All of this raucous conduct in an attempt to prevent me from speaking about our nation's "illegal" alien immigration dilemma.

The presence of law enforcement was the only reason my civil rights to freely speak to an audience of over 300 people were not suppressed by Sarmiento's clan that night. I suppose they would have lynched me if they could have broken through the police lines. :)

I truly hope that Mr. Sarmiento will graduate from UCLA as a more enlightened person who understands that freedom of thought and speech is an irrevocable right applicable to ALL of us. Someday, cops en masse will be protecting him from goons who will want to viciously prevent him from speaking somewhere. I certainly will be there to defend his right to speak.

Jim Gilchrist, Founder and President, The Minuteman Project

PS to R S Moxley: You spelled my name incorrectly; how disappointing. :)

@jimgilchrist your attempt to portray Orange County, CA cops as always innocent angels and heroes is unsustainable Mr. Gilchrist. From harassment / intimidation to attempted murder. There is no part of the United States criminal code that this group hasn't defiled.

@18usc241@jimgilchrist Your witch-hunting attempt to portray Orange County, California cops (actually, all cops everywhere) as always guilty, and satanic mutants on a mission from Hell, regardless of the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident at issue here, is absolutely unsustainable.

I stand with the court jury, the defense attorneys, and the defending Fullerton cops in this matter. They did the best they could under the facts and circumstances of the situation. While they should not be commended for the results of their actions of enforcing the law, neither should they be condemned.

Personally, I think the police officers involved each have a case against the City of Fullerton for wrongful termination…just as the father of Kelly Thomas has a case for the unfortunate death of his son.

Since this situation is now all about millions of dollars of compensatory damages, or whatever it is called, for the benefit of the decedent's parents, I think the wrongfully terminated police officers also deserve compensatory damages of at least $1,000,000 (one million). Hopefully, their lawyers can get awards larger than that for each of them. They deserve it.

If your good name and reputation had been deliberately smeared by cops masquerading as men of law and integrity, I would forgive you for referring to them as "satanic mutants on a mission from Hell". Your words not mine.